


What Matters In a Hundred Years

by MissLiz



Category: Gunsmoke
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3397322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissLiz/pseuds/MissLiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After nineteen years in Dodge, Kitty meets the incredible woman who brought her to life. A "what-if" story in honor of Amanda Blake on her birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Matters In a Hundred Years

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own these characters, and I never met Amanda. Her words and actions in this story come entirely from my own mind.

Kitty walked through the door to Doc’s office, her silk skirts making a rustling noise around her. His message about needing help with a patient had sounded so urgent she hadn’t taken the time to change into something more serviceable.

Doc looked up when he heard her, and rose from his desk chair. “It’s about time!” he said gruffly. “I was beginning to think you’d be too late.”

“Too late? Doc, you wanna tell me what this is about?” Kitty glanced around the outer office, seeing no one. Her first thought at being summoned had been of her big lawman, and so far, Doc’s manner and the emptiness of the room were offering her little reassurance.

“I’ll explain once you see her.” He took her arm above the elbow and led her to the bedroom door. From the doorway, Kitty looked at the woman sleeping in the bed. She looked familiar, yet Kitty was sure she’d never seen her before.

“Who is she, Doc?” Kitty murmured, not wanting to wake her.

Doc swiped at his mustache nervously and cleared his throat, wondering how Kitty was going to take this. He didn’t really understand it himself. “Well,” he said finally, “in a way, she’s you.”

Kitty raised one eyebrow, waiting for the rest.

“Her name is Amanda, and she’s an actress. A hundred years from now she’s going to portray you in--well, that’s not really important.”

She must be dreaming. How else could she accept what Doc was telling her with so little explanation? She approached the bed, and knew he was telling her the truth. This woman, Amanda, could be her in twenty years. Kitty looked at her drawn face and frail body and turned to Doc, somehow already knowing the answer before she asked.

“How are we going to help her, Doc?”

He shook his head. “That’s not why she’s here. This is her spirit. The rest of her is still in the twentieth century, and there are doctors and nurses keeping her comfortable there.”

Kitty’s eyes filled with tears as they met Doc’s. “You mean she’s going to….”

He nodded sadly. “Even in a hundred years, there are things the medical profession won’t know how to fix.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Well, it seems Someone has decided that the two of you are to meet. I don’t know to what purpose, but it’s time for me to leave the two of you alone for a little while.”

“Doc?” Uncertain of what was coming next, Kitty felt the panic rising as he walked out the door.

He stopped for a moment and looked back at her. “You’ll know what to do.”

Kitty sat, as she had so many times before, in the chair next to the bed. She realized it didn’t feel a bit strange to be sitting next to her future self. White strands mixed with the dark red hair that fell around Amanda’s shoulders, and Kitty smoothed it back, wanting a better look. In spite of the disease that had ravaged her body, her face looked beautiful and at peace. She was surprised to see the gentle, infrequent rise and fall of the gown she wore when she took a breath; Doc had said this was Amanda’s spirit. She took her wrist gently. There it was. Her pulse was weak, but it was there all the same. “You seem real enough to me,” Kitty whispered.

“So do you.” That was unexpected. The voice was weak, but clear. Kitty looked up to see Amanda’s eyes--her eyes--looking back at her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I’m glad you did. I was hoping we would get the chance to meet.” Amanda grasped her hand and gave her a faint smile.

“But, why? Forgive me; I still don’t understand what this is all about.” Kitty shook her head, stopping when she saw the look of fatigue on Amanda’s face. “Maybe I don’t need to know.”

“How long have you lived in Dodge now, Kitty?”

“Well, I guess it will be twenty years this fall.” It didn’t seem possible.

“You love him.” It was a statement, not a question. Amanda’s eyes met hers and Kitty was unable to look away. There was no sense asking who she meant or dancing around the truth. This woman knew everything about her.

“Yes. I do. Every single day of those twenty years.”

Amanda smiled and held her hand tighter. “I want you to know I tried, Kitty. I tried my best to do you justice.”

“I know you did.” Kitty couldn’t imagine what the world would be like in the next century, or how it could be possible for an actress to live the life of a woman a hundred years in the past. “How long did you….” She couldn’t remember the word Doc used.

“Play your part?” Kitty nodded. “Nineteen years.”

_Nineteen?_ Kitty was trying to puzzle through the implications of what Amanda had just said, but she was still speaking. “I’m sorry, Kitty! They didn’t give me any choice!” she gasped, starting to become agitated. “I didn’t have a choice, but you do!”

“Sshh, sshh.” Kitty tried to calm her down. “It’s all right. Save your strength.”

Amanda shook her head. “Make sure it’s your choice!”

“I will,” Kitty promised. She didn’t understand everything, but parts of it were starting to make sense. “I want you to get some rest now. Can I get you anything for pain?”

“No, I’m past that. It won’t be long, now. I’d take a glass of water, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Sure.” She poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table and slipped her arm around Amanda’s shoulders, supporting her as she drank a few sips. Their eyes met again, and for a moment the thoughts of the two women connected. Kitty understood everything.

“Remember, it’s your choice,” Amanda repeated, as Kitty gently lowered her head back to the pillow.

“I’ll remember.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“You bet I will.” Kitty held Amanda’s hand as she drifted back to sleep, trying to sort through it all. Amanda seeking her out at the end of her life with a message. Stay here in Dodge with Matt, or go away. It was her choice. It was obviously very important to Amanda that she make her own decision, but at the same time she seemed to want Kitty to take the path she couldn’t. Nineteen years...that couldn’t be a coincidence. Kitty prayed for wisdom to know what to do when the time came.

The room became full dark, and Kitty didn’t bother getting up to light the lamp. She was still holding Amanda’s hand when she finally let sleep overtake her.

 

* * *

 

Kitty woke the next morning in the chair next to Doc’s bed. Her hand rested on the quilt and the bed was neatly made, as if it hadn’t been slept in. Her memories of the night before were already fading. A red-haired woman named Amanda. _You love him...I didn’t have a choice, but you do...Nineteen years...Twenty years this fall._ Had it been a dream after all? She heard Doc coming through the door and looked up. He didn’t seem surprised to see her there.

“Was she real, Doc?”

“Well, now, just who in thunder are you talking about?”

“You know who I’m talking about, Curly! She was quite a woman, wasn’t she?”

“That she was.” Doc gave a quick nod. “I’d say this calls for a drink, wouldn’t you?” He held up the bottle of brandy she’d given him last Christmas and two glasses. She nodded.

Kitty took the glass he poured her and raised it slightly. “To Amanda.” Doc touched his glass to hers.

“To Amanda,” he echoed, and they drank.

 

END


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